Showtyme teams win Dreams Basketball Tournament

Posted : 04 July 2024

Showtyme's male basketball club from Ibadan defeated Hoop Dreams Nigeria 74-49 to win the third edition of the Dreams Basketball Tournament.

Showtyme Angels also clinched the title in the female category by defeating Amazon of Lagos 72-54.

Speaking later, Dayo Emmanuel, the coach of Showtyme Angels, expressed happiness with the victory, saying, "To be honest, I wasn’t expecting this type of final. I must say I’m really impressed with the performance of both teams, not just my own."

"The offense and defense of both teams are highly commendable; it was an amazing final for the women," he said.

Tunji Soroye, the competition's sponsor, who claimed to have grown up in Ibadan and understood the landscape, said he knew the challenges faced by upcoming basketball players.

"I started playing around age 14, and all we did then was practice, practice, and no tournaments or competitions to gauge how good you are because all you did daily was just drills.

"After I stopped playing basketball some years ago, I wanted to give back to Nigeria.

"Then the idea of organizing an annual tournament struck me so that kids could come and compete against each other.

"The competition will help them discover their shortcomings and areas where they excel," he said.

He added that the 2024 edition is bigger because the last two editions only had teams based in Oyo State.

"This year, three teams came from outside Oyo State. The outside teams made it more competitive with bigger challenges.

"This edition is the best so far due to the number of participants," he said.

Soroye also emphasized that many talents abound in Africa.

"I must say, we just don’t have the resources and provisions that other countries have.

"I see so many raw talents who need guidance, exposure, and competitions to keep improving," he said.

Ten male and female teams participated in the three-day event.

The male clubs included Hoop Dreams Nigeria, Showtyme from Ibadan, University of Ibadan, Liberty Spears Ibadan, and Egbeda Local Government Basketball of Ibadan.

Others were D’warriors of Lagos, Vision Basketball of Abeokuta, and Raptors Basketball Academy of Lagos.

The female teams were Showtyme Angels of Ibadan and Amazon of Lagos.

Showtyme received N600,000 for winning, while Hoop Dreams Nigeria received N400,000 in the male category.

In the female category, Showtyme Angels received N300,000 while Amazon of Lagos got N200,000.

The tournament was sponsored by Tunji Soroye, a former national basketball player.

Showtyme teams win Dreams Basketball Tournament

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